Violations, suits pile up vs. local nursing facility
By Stephanie Innes
Arizona Daily Star
February 14, 2010
Buck Jeffers was the kind of dad who jumped into his car in the middle of the night when he learned his grown daughter's family vehicle was broken down two states away.
He was a man who never could retire - after a career in the military, the World War II and Korean War vet worked for the Pima County Sheriff's Department while going to school for insurance sales. He subsequently spent a little more than 20 years as an insurance agent.
The longtime Tucson resident was also a regular at Dunkin' Donuts and Jerry Bob's, where he loved to chat up the staff and clientele.
"Dad was more interested in other people," said his daughter, Connie Scharpnick. "He would do anything for anyone. He was a very kind man."
So it was beyond excruciating for Scharpnick, she says, to see her father in soiled diapers and dirty clothes, confused and wasting away in a Tucson nursing home.
Scharpnick has sued the home - the Villa Campana Health Care Center, 6651 E. Carondelet Drive - for elder abuse, saying her father was so ignored and neglected a bedsore on his lower back left the elderly man's muscles exposed.
In court filings, Villa Campana denies any wrongdoing.
Scharpnick's lawsuit in federal court is one of two pending legal actions, both alleging abuse, against Villa Campana, a 120-bed for-profit nursing home.
The nursing home was also recently found to be in violation of 33 state rules and regulations governing long-term care in Arizona. Among deficiencies the state found at Villa Campana were violations of its own policies on pressure sores in five residents, including failing to treat a man's deteriorating calf wound for two days. In another case, a resident who was spitting up blood and asking to go to the hospital was ignored for hours.
Villa Campana says it has since changed management and is now in full compliance with all state and federal rules.
Resources
• Nursing homes should make their latest state-inspection survey readily available to visitors. You also may check citations at the state's Web site, www.azdhs.gov/als/ltc/ index.htm
It was once possible to look at the public file on any home at the state's long-term-care licensing office in Tucson, but in 2008 officials moved the files to Phoenix, where they may be viewed at 150 N. 18th Ave., fourth floor.
• The Arizona Health Services Department's office of long-term care has information about nursing homes, regulations, residents' rights and enforcement. See www.azcarecheck.com or www.azdhs.gov/als/ltc/ index.htm or call 1-602-364-2690.
• To file a complaint against a nursing home, call the state at 1-602-364-2536.
• Complaints about abuse, neglect or exploitation of vulnerable adults may also be filed with Arizona Adult Protective Services at 1-877-767-2385 or file an online report at www.azdes.gov/ reportadultabuse
• The Pima Council on Aging has resources at www.pcoa.org/programs and long-term care ombudsman Margaret Higgins takes complaints and will help people file complaints. Reach her at 546-2007 or 904-2903.
• Find government ratings for nursing homes that accept Medicare/Medicaid: www.medicare.gov
Abridged
SOURCE: AZSTARNET
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